Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Review: Tailor Made by Josephine Myles

College tart Felix McAvoy is used to causing a stir with his conceptual art pranks, but for his final show he's planning something even more outrageous. In a last ditch attempt to seduce his jaded tutor, Felix plans to wear the canvas in a subversive display. However, if he's going to do this right he'll need a tailor-made canvas suit. Fortunately, he knows just the tailor to turn to for the favour—and Felix isn't shy about offering favours of a very different kind in return.

First year fashion student Andrew Wheeler knows Felix by reputation only—and plans to keep things that way. Andrew's determined to save himself for the man of his dreams, and Felix couldn't be more different from his ideal Mr. Right. There's only one use Andrew will contemplate for Felix's body: a model for his end of year project. Trouble is, it's going to involve a lot of close contact with a nearly naked Felix, and Andrew's never had temptation quite so close at hand...

Tailor Made is one of the better college m/m stories. In general I like this theme best when the heroes are both students and there’s no professor or teacher in the mix because I usually don’t like the dynamics that sort of unequal relationship entails. So, I’m glad that we have two students here: one a senior student and one a first year college boy. The older guy, Felix, has a bit of a rep to be a slut. The younger one, Andrew, turns out to be a virgin determined to wait for Mr. Right to pop his cherry. Well, that is, until Mr. Wrong comes along, personified by Felix.

Felix needs Andrew’s help for one of his projects but gets turned down by him at first. Then Andrew unexpectedly has to find a replacement to model for him. He asks Felix to help him while he offers to help him in return. And so they find themselves in close proximity when they start working on both their projects, measuring up a tailor-made suit. There are going to be two versions of the suit, one for Felix’s project, meant for his conceptual art prank and made out of canvas-like material. The other one is for Andrew’s end of the year project and is going to be fashionably fancy.
As we could’ve guessed, temptation turns out to be too much for Andrew and he can’t resist Felix’s hot body and his delicious offers. While they help each other and spend many nights together – Andrew sewing, Felix drawing – they develop a friendship with benefits. Very hot benefits I might say, because I almost found myself panting with them during their incredibly sexy encounters. They are not only steamy together but also very cute and endearing in how they become friends.

Tailor Made is not a particularly long story but it still shows enough character development. I don’t know how Myles does it, but in the beginning I didn’t like Felix very much, however eventually she made me fall for him just as much as for Andrew. I think it’s partly his tender way with Andrew once he finds out he’s a virgin and partly his bold move in the end when he’s brave enough to make clear what he finds important. Andrew is easier to like from the beginning. He’s willing to review his own prejudices and - like Felix - he’s also man enough to go for what he wants in the end. We have two lovable heroes to feel connected with.
In addition to the satisfying character development, the plot is well paced and not too complicated: good boy meets bad boy, gets seduced, has to rethink his preconceptions about the ideal partner and falls for the ‘wrong’ guy. While at the same time the bad boy gets fascinated with the good boy, sows his wild oats and stops sleeping around, doesn’t realize it yet but starts to develop feelings for the good guy and eventually proves he has changed with a grand gesture. And what a grand gesture it is! I loved the symbolic message he broadcasted, loud en clear. And with Felix’s gesture, Myles made a very clear statement about conceptual art as well.

Overall, Tailor Made is a fun read, which is written very well and with humor. The story is set against a British college background, has two cute, likable and distinct heroes who are perfect for each other and who steam up the pages to a dense fog. The good boy bad boy trope is drawn out well, a point about art education is made and we get a solid happily ever after in the end. This extended novella has all the ingredients for some enjoyable reading time, especially when you’re in the mood for something lighter without angst. Entertainment guaranteed!
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